By Sebastian Löeffler, Günter Reppe, Angela Rebs, Marcus Herrmann, Christopher Mauermann, Alexander Kaiser, and Karl-Heinz Fritz, Cicor Advanced Microelectronics & Substrates GmbHThick-film, hybrid ceramic substrates have provided a base for high-reliability circuits in the space, avionics, medical, and industrial markets for years. Along with new interposer substrates for mass production based on polymers, silicon and glass, thick-film ceramic can be a solution ...

By Scott Snell, Purex, Inc.For many of us, long gone are the days of working outdoors in the sunshine, with a satisfying breeze to keep us moving when we feel fatigued. These days, most of us work inside. Although being out of the elements is nice, most of us breathe the air that is available at our workplace ...

By Christine SchulzeAs the smart factory ideal becomes reality, a well-developed system of supply chain management with intelligent interfaces for procurement automation is of particular importance. Such systems increase the security of supply and the quality of processes, which leads to both reduced process ...

By Ed SullivanInfrared heating technology has become prevalent among the industrial ovens, dryers and heaters used by a multitude of manufacturers. The OEMs that manufacture these ovens and heaters use infrared heating elements, which are more energy efficient, cheaper to operate, provide controllable ...

By Michael L. MartelOver time, PC-based machine control has encroached upon, and ultimately gained dominance over, traditional, reliable PLC (programmable logic control) controllers. There are many different reasons, but perhaps the most important benefit directly attributable to this development has been ...

By Lior Yosef, CTO, Mechanical Devices Ltd.Temperature forcing systems allow engineers to test ICs and other devices for reliability in different environments under controlled conditions. Thermal stream systems and direct thermal head systems can be used to create extreme temperatures that mimic real-world scenarios in order ...

By Scott Jordan, PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P.Since the first photonics/telecom boom in the late 1990s, PI (Physik Instrumente) has been creating microrobots for optics alignment. Originally developing the technology for astronomical telescopes, the positioning systems are now put to use in a variety of ways throughout the photonics ...

By Peter van den Eijnden, Managing Director, JTAG TechnologiesMany digital electronics designs now contain some form of JTAG/boundary-scan to aid structural board testing or in-system device programming. However, accessing the JTAG feature in a reliable and repeatable manner has always been somewhat neglected by boundary-scan technology and programmable ...

By Kristi Schilloff, Channel Marketing Manager, Universal Instruments Corp.If implemented correctly, automation can help a company scale its demand requirements, reduce and fix production costs, improve quality, eliminate health and safety issues, and most importantly, realize a more substantial ROI faster and more efficiently.

By Jonathan Wol, President, Pillarhouse USA, Inc., and Simon Smith, Marketing Manager, Pillarhouse International Ltd.Closed-loop top-side preheat generally refers to any preheating unit that presents energy from above the PCB and is used for heating the board to a specific temperature, as well as holding it at this value throughout the process. The system must include some form of temperature measuring ...

By Agnieszka Kurylo, Dr. -Ing., Thomas Knieling, and Lars Blohm, Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon TechnologyIn an effort to meet the growing demand for hybrid electronics production, a team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology in Germany has been developing prototypes of hybrid electronics systems. The focus is on the combination of both silicon and flexible electronics manufacturing ...